Meditation vs Mindfulness vs Tai ji vs Qigong: Connection, Similarity, and Difference?

Meditation can be defined as a set of techniques that are intended to increase a state of awareness and focused attention. It has been practiced in cultures all over the world to create a sense of calm and inner harmony.

Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and others that help you direct your attention away from negative thinking and engage with the world around you.

Qigong is a healing art, a way of cultivating physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychical health by stationary or moving meditation. The Qigong stationary meditation visualizes the Qi ( ‘internal life energy) moving through meridians to a specific part of the body, or focus on breathing patterns, sounds, images, etc. for cultivating Qi, achieving the mind-body integration, emotional and spiritual fulfillment. Qigong moving meditation combines the stationary meditation techniques with specially designed movements not only for the same purpose as the stationary meditation, as well as for strengthening the internal organs and developing stronger muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Tai Ji includes three key components: movement, meditation, and deep breathing. These three components emphases on the three regulations of body focus, mental focus, and breathe focus. When practicing Tai Ji, the gentle flowing movements accompanied by deep breathing promote serenity and awareness and bring many other health benefits. Taiji is often called walking meditation or dynamic Qigong. Though the calling is not peculiarly accurate, it reflects the connections of Taiji, Qigong, and meditation more or less.

Mindfulness meditation focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Meditation in Qigong visualizes the Qi moving to a specific part of the body, or focuses on the breathing patterns, sounds, images, etc. Meditation in Tai Ji is achieved by focusing on the movements, the breath, and the awareness of the surrounding. Therefore, practicing mindfulness needs a quiet environment and sufficient time for you to enter a meditation state. Similarly, practicing Tai Ji needs a quiet environment and sufficient time as well, plus a sufficient space to be able to move around. Practicing Qigong on the other hand has no such restriction because focusing on the breath companies with simple movement is much easier to enter a meditation state. Also, most of most Qigong forms are short and relatively simple, take only about 10 minutes to complete.

So, If you can find 30-40 minutes of your own space, do some Tai Ji and you will feel very refreshed and energized after doing some Tai Ji. If it is hard to do, try to some Qigong. You can do it in the morning, during a break at work, or in the evening. You will be very glad about the outcome.